Rolling Ollie Trick Tip
So you can ollie a couple inches standing still, but when you try a rolling ollie it all falls apart? It's way common, so don't get frustrated. There are a couple key tricks you can use to get your rolling ollies down.
First, your shoulders don't have to be parallel to the board--a lot of people will tell you to keep your shoulders in line with the board, but all that really matters is that your shoulders don't rotate. It can help to have a more open stance with your shoulders at about 45 degrees to the board, facing forward. This makes you look forward instead of down at the board, which is a big part of getting your rolling ollies down. As long as your shoulders keep that angle on both the way up and down, you won't have problems with rotating.
Next, don't shoot for the same height as your stationary ollies when you're first starting out. Get cruising and just pop a bunch of quick, little ollies. The faster you're going, the faster the whole ollie motion is going to have to be. These are a lot of fun. You don't need a lot of height--the faster you're going, the more distance you'll get out of your ollie. Start with just trying to get over cracks in the road and eventually work your way up to manholes and gaps. This way, you can work on your ollie distance and height independently.
Finally, to take your rolling ollies to the next level, start sucking up your legs. When you're first starting out, your board won't stick to your feet well enough to really suck your legs up, but after you've got some practice, the board will follow your feet. Don't rush this step--it's not going to happen for you unless you're already confident with your ollies. Keep at it though, and you'll surprise yourself with the height you can get. Ollieing curbs and decks will get easier every day, and getting more height will just be a matter of sucking your legs higher.
Got it? Go skate!